SALIENT FEATURES OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION

The present constitution of USA was adopted at the Philadelphia Convention held
in 1787. It came into force in 1789. It consisted of only 7 articles. Following are
some of the salient features:-

1. Written and Brief Constitution: The constitution of USA is the first written
constitution in the world duly enacted by a Constituent Assembly. It has 7
articles only.It is the shortest constitution in the world.

2.Popular Sovereignty: American constitution is based on popular

sovereignty.The people are the source of supreme power.The constitution
was framed by the representatives of the people and dedicated to themselves
by the people.

3.Supremacy of the constitution: According to Article 6 of the American

constitution “ The constitution shall be the supreme law of the land”.It means
that all other laws and treaties of the country must be in accordance with the
constitution and if any of them is not in accordance with the constitution, the
Supreme Court can declare it null and void.

4.Representative Democracy: Administration of the state is carried on by the

representatives elected on the basis of adult franchise.Every adult male and
female has been given right to vote without any discrimination.

5.Limited Government: The framers of the American constitution have

confined the federal govt and the state govt in their sphere in such away that
none of them can become unrestrained.The rights of the individual have been
incorporated in the constitution which limit the powers of the govt.

6.Federal polity:USA is the first modern federal state in the world which has
the following federal features (1) Written constitution(ii)rigid
constitution(iii)Supremacy of the constitution(iv)Dual polity(v)Double
citizenship(vi) Double constitution.
7.Rigid constitution: American constitution is the most rigid constitution in the
world.The proposal of amendment requires the approval of both houses of the
Congress separately by 2/3 majority and ratification by 3/4 state legislatures.

8.Presidential form of government: USA is the oldest and most successful

Presidential government in the world. Its presidential features are (i) President
is the real executive head (ii) Separation between executive and legislature (iii)
fixed tenure of the executive (iv) members of the cabinet are responsible to
the President (v) tenure of the congress is fixed.

9. Double citizenship: Every American citizen enjoys two type of citizenship i.e
citizenship of their respective states and citizenship of the country as a whole.

10.Separate constitution of the state: Every states has its own separate
constitution.Federal constitution is concerned with the composition and
powers of the federal government and the constitution of the states are
concerned with the organization and powers of the state governments. But
the constitution of the state must be in accordance with the federal
constitution and it is obligatory to provide Republican government in every
state.

11.Republican form of government: The office of the head of the state is not
based on hereditary rather he is elected indirectly elected by the people for a
fixed term of four years.

12.Separation of powers: The three organs of government are separated from

each other.Article 1 of the constitution gives legislative power to the congress
Article 2 gives executive power to the President Article 3 gives Judicial power
to the Judiciary.

13.Doctrine of checks and balances: To ensure that no organ of the

government may become despot, the principle of checks and balances on
different organs have been adopted.

14. Bill of Rights: Rights of the American citizen were incorporated in the
constitution by first 10 amendments. USA is the first country to include Rights
of the citizen in the constitution.US citizens enjoy various kinds of freedom and
equality.

15. Judicial Supremacy: Judiciary has been granted supremacy over other
organs of government in USA because Judiciary interprets and protects the
constitution and also resolves the disputes between centre and states.

16.Judicial Review: The judiciary has the power to reject the bills passed by the
congress and treaties concluded by the President if it is against the
constitution.

17.Bi Cameral Legislature: The Federal legislature has two Houses. The lower
house is House of Representatives which represent the people and the upper
house is Senate which represent the federating states.

18. Conventions: Like in any other constitution, Conventions have made their
place in American constitution and have contributed a lot in the development
of the constitution .e.g existence of political parties, cabinet, committees of
the congress, senatorial courtesy etc.